


Flicker

by Imjustmakingsuffupagain



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Blood, Blood and Injury, Injury, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:34:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29172714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imjustmakingsuffupagain/pseuds/Imjustmakingsuffupagain
Summary: Din and Nelly work well together. After all he's been through, he wanted one good thing to stay with him. When their job goes bad, he'll fight tooth and nail to get her back.
Kudos: 2





	Flicker

Nelly never wanted to owe anyone anything. It was one of her few rules she had for herself. She had been burned enough to make it a permanent mantra. 

She kept to her rule mostly, very few occasions would she find herself indebted to another being. On those occasions, she remedied that debt quickly and efficiently. 

She wasn't above working with someone as long as it was work and payment evenly split. She could be a team player when needs be. 

Nelly had lent a hand to the Mandalorian on a few occasions. They worked well together, good at their jobs and neither felt the need to get personal. Exactly how they both liked it. 

When the Mandalorian came waltzing up to her in some shiny new beskar armour, she knew she was about to have a good payday.

"Look at you, Rust Bucket. All shiny and new. Who'd you have to kill for that?" Nelly laughed. 

"High ranking Imps. Out played them." Din said. 

"Good for you. Fight the power and all that. Doesn't seem like your style, being political."

"Isn't about politics. More about giving mass murders what's coming to them. Anyway, I got a job and it's going to require an extra pair of hands. I thought you could use the credits." Din said, sitting far back in his chair, his legs spread just enough to be verging on indecent. Something about the uniform or maybe the allure of mystery with the helmet, either way Nelly, like so many people, was not immune to the mandalorian's sex appeal. She bit her lip to stop herself from saying anything regretful. 

"You're not wrong. I can always use the credits. What's the gig?" She sighed sitting a little taller in her seat, legs firmly closed.

"An Imp commander that was supposed to be dead, he's popped up again and there is a big reward for him. Dead or alive." He adjusted his belt. Nelly noticed. 

"Well, let's go serve some justice. I got a new blaster I've been itching to use." She smiled. A chuckle crackled through Din's regulator. The hair on the back of Nelly's neck stood on end. 

Nelly stood in her bedroom, putting on her chest plate and other armour, thinking about Din Djarin. She wished she could stop the giddy rush she got every time he showed up. It only complicated a perfectly good work relationship. She felt like a stupid school girl. She was better than this, right? She hated being human. Some species didn't feel attraction at all, why couldn't she have been one of them? 

"Alright Rust Bucket, let's do this." Nelly said hoping on the speeder bike. They flew off over the sand. 

"It shouldn't be too difficult. About twenty men with him. All just low ranking troopers. Nothing you aren't used to." Din said as they peered at the compound. 

" so, ten each then. You really needed a hand with this? This seems like something you could do in your sleep." Nelly crossed her arms looking him up and down. 

"I don't want to risk him getting away. Besides, like you said, you can always use the credits."

"Fine, keep your secrets." Nelly laughed. 

They crept up to the entrance of the compound, blasters in hand. Nelly crouched as she crawled behind a trooper guarding the entrance and wrapped her arm around his throat and choking him out, Din did the same to the other. They came up to a fork in the hallway. 

"I go left, you go right?" Nelly asked. Din nodded. They took off their separate ways. Nelly went running silently down the corridors, taking out whatever guard was in her way. She could hear Din having his fight on the other side of the building. She laughed at how loud he was for someone of few words. 

Nelly ran into the control room shooting the remaining troopers before taking aim at the commander. 

" let's not make this hard. Just come quietly, my back hurts and I don't feel like dragging your body all the way back." Nelly said walking toward the man.

"Why would I do anything for scum like you? You and that filthy Mandalorian can rot in a pit." He spat. Nelly grumbled as she shot him in the leg and walked over, taking her cuffs out and slapping them on the commander's wrists. 

"You dumb bitch. You're going to regret this!" He screamed. 

"Yeah, yeah. They all say that." Nelly huffed. Before Nelly could get the commander on his feet they doors flew open. She was expecting Din to come waltzing in, blaster smoking covering him. But she was met with three very angry looking Dark Troopers. 

" oh fuck…" she said, barely above a whisper. She let loose, knowing nothing she had on her could take the out. She'd be damned if she didn't go down without a fight. 

They didn't fight back, just kept marching towards her. They let the shits ricochet off them, sparks flying across the room. They ran up and grabbed Nelly, crushing her wrists. 

"Get off! Let go!"

"Yell all you want girl, you're mine now. Take her to the ship. Let's see if this will show that beskar bastard we aren't meant to be played with." The commander spit. The doors opened just in time for Din to see the troopers carrying Nelly away screaming. 

"Nelly! No!" He tried to shoot them, but stopped in fear of it missing and hitting Nelly instead. He ran after but the armoured door shut in his face. He did everything to get it opened to no avail. He ran outside and saw the ship she was prisoner on fly away. He had to get her back. He ran as fast as he could to the speeder bike and raced back to his ship. 

The troopers threw Nelly into a holding cell on the ship. She landed with a loud crack. She had broken a rib for sure. Stabbing pain radiated through her body with every breath. The commander walked in a sick smile on his face.

" I'm only going to ask this once. If you answer, you leave with minimal damage. If you refuse or lie, I will enjoy punishing you." He snarled. Nelly did her best to sit up, knowing that she wouldn't tell him anything, no matter what.

"Where is the green child and what has that Mandalorian done with Moff Gideon?" The commander asked. Nelly looked up at him confused. Had she hit her head, nothing he said made any sense.

" I actually have no idea what you are talking about." She wheezed. The commander growled, pulling his hand back and slamming his fist into Nelly's jaw. 

" Every friend of the mandalorian has helped him harbour the green child. Don't play dumb." He landed hit after hit. Pain shot through Nelly's body. She was tough. She had to be. But she had to admit she needed help out of this one. She thought about how she wouldn't mind being in debt to Din this one time. 

Din Djarin cursed his ship for being so slow. This was his fault. He should have known this couldn't be that easy. How did they hide the Dark Troopers? All the research he did, they weren't supposed to be there. Why take her? They think she knows where Grogu is. 

Din shot out the cannons and came screaming into the landing dock. He jumped out shooting down every trooper in his way. He was on a warpath. He beat, shot, strangled, stabbed his way through the ship. A trail of blood was left behind him. Her screams shook him to his core. She was tough. He'd seen her get shot and barely flinch. 

He ripped every door off its hinges trying to find her. Tearing apart the ship, he saw the dark troopers standing guard and knew that he'd found her. He pulled his spear out and ran toward the troopers. They shot and fought him. He stabbed one through the chest, lifting him over head and throwing him down the corridor. He stabbed the other in the chest, the leg, the back before ripping the head from it's mechanical shoulders. 

The door opened and Din walked in, spear in hand. Nelly did her best to lift her head. The commander turned to see Din. The color left his face, knowing he was dead. 

"Now wait a minute. You can't kill me. I was following orders-" Din shoved his spear through the commander's stomach. 

"You're scum" Din growled as he ripped the spear from his stomach. Not satisfied, Din landed a few hits to his face before shoving the spear slowly through his throat, ripping it out and his beskar being covered with blood. 

Nelly coughed, her head reeling, her body devastated with pain. She lifted a hand to wipe the blood from her eyes, she wanted to see him. She coughed, it felt like she was drowning in her own blood.

Din rushed to her side, holding her head in his hand. He shook his head. He let this happen. Nelly lay before him covered in bruises and her own blood, because of him. 

"It's going to be okay. I'm going to get you help." Din said, his voice shaking even through the modulator. 

Nelly smiled up at him, she liked the thought of him worrying about her. She knew it wasn't a good thought to have, especially at that moment. But no one had worried about her in quite some time. 

Din lifted her in his arms as gently as he could, still causing Nelly to gasp in pain. He carried her to his ship, whispering to her to keep awake and hold on. 

Din played her on his bed. Nelly grabbed his hand, a move that surprised Din. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. 

" can...can I ask you..a dumb question?" Nelly croaked. 

"...you can ask me anything."

"What...what color are your eyes?" Nelly coughed. She couldn't stop wondering, she had never thought much about it before. Something in the moments of her being beaten within an inch of her life had her wondering. Probably some kind of defense mechanism her brain hatched. 

"...Brown. My eyes are brown." Din said as he put a blanket over her. Nelly smiled, laying her head down. 

"I had...a feeling…" her eyes fluttered closed. Din sat up, shaking her shoulder.

" Nelly? Nelly, you gotta stay awake." He said shaking her, her eyes lolling open and closed. He cursed himself before running to the cockpit to take off. He flew faster than he had ever flown. He landed the ship with a crash as he ran to grab Nelly. He lifted Nelly and ran off the ship to the nearest medic station. He burst threw the doors, blood trailing behind them. 

"Help her, please!" Din yelled. Nelly wasn't totally conscious, but even she could hear the desperation in his voice. The nurses rushed to him with a gurney, laying her down and taking her to the back, out of Din's sight. He went to go after them and a nurse stopped him. For a brief moment he thought about how easy it would be for him to take them all out so he could be with her. He sat in the waiting room instead. 

The bright lights pointed directly at Nelly's face only served to make her head throb more. She tried to sit up, she didn't want to be here. They kept pushing her back down. She fought them, but her strength was nonexistent. 

"Where is he? Where's Mando?" She mumbled until it turned into a desperate cry, wanting something familiar and safe. She watched as a nurse stabbed a needle in her arm. She tried to fight the sleep, but no one can fight anesthesia. 

Din sat in the chair that was too small, still as ever. His mind was racing in contrast. He would never forgive himself for this. He should have done the job alone. It was selfish to ask her. He only asked so he could see her again. He just wanted to see her, after everything he had been through he just wanted one good thing to stay with him. He didn't know what he would do if she was taken from him too. Better men had been broken from less. 

"Sir? Um, I told them that if we didn't let you see her you might tear this place apart. Seems to have been all the convincing needed. She's stable now. She was hurt pretty bad. She'll be laid up a while." A young nurse smiled to him. He followed them back to Nelly's room. Din hesitated just outside. He was selfish for asking her to do the mission, he was selfish now for not wanting to see his handy work. He walked in to see her asleep on the bed. Her body covered in bruises, stitches and dried blood they hadn't scrubbed off. She was swollen to the point of being unrecognizable. Din sat next to her, not sure what to do. His hand hovered over her's. He gently held it, afraid that anything he would do would cause her more pain. 

Nelly's eyes flickered open as she fought back to consciousness. Her hand instinctively gripping onto Din's. He looked up to see her open her eyes, he could still recognize her eyes. 

"Nelly...I...I am sorry. This is all my fault. You should have never been there. This was a trap for me and you got hurt because of me." Din kept his gaze at the ground. 

"Stop it. I knew what I was doing. I'm a big girl, I can take responsibility for my decisions. Besides, I'm fine." She smiled as best she could.

"You almost died! I can't...I can't lose you too." He sighed. 

"Mando, you won't lose me. As long as you want me I'm here"

"Din. My name is Din." Nelly felt a shiver run through her. All this time and she had never asked, she thought it rude to ask a Mandalorian their name. Something stupid someone told her once. 

"Din with brown eyes." She smiled. Din looked up at her. He thought for a moment that he should take his helmet off, but decided against it. She had been through too much already, he didn't want to overwhelm her. He felt he didn't deserve to see her without his visor anyway. 

"Yeah, Din with brown eyes."


End file.
